The Transition Towards Hydrogen as a Sustainable
Fuel
Exploring the Organizational Field of Hydrogen Mobility in
Sweden
Viktor Fabricio de Barros, William Sandberg
Department of Business Administration
Master's Program in Business Development and Internationalisation Master's Thesis in Business Administration II, 15 Credits, Spring 2021
Supervisor: Christopher Nicol
ABSTRACT
The overall goal with this master’s thesis is to describe the institutionalization process of the organizational field of Hydrogen Refuelling Stations (HRS) with green hydrogen produced via electrolysis for the heavy-duty truck sector in Sweden. Hydrogen mobility is a recent technology, which makes its organizational field formation and development processes interesting to examine. As society is becoming more concerned about sustainable transitions from fossil-based fuels to renewable carbon-free sources of fuels, it was deemed relevant to make a thesis regarding the topic.
We recognized that there was a need to further investigate the institutional process of an organizational field that may not yet be established and working with recent technologies. By studying an organizational field in its early phases, one might be able to get a deeper understanding of the underlying processes behind the formation and development of an organizational field. As the purpose of this study was to get a deeper understanding of the institutionalization process of HRS infrastructure for fuel cell heavy duty trucks in Sweden, interviews with people from the organizational field were made.
As little was known about the given organizational field, stakeholder theory was used to identify the four stakeholder groups of Customers, Suppliers, Interest Groups and Government were selected in order to understand the roles different stakeholders play in the formation and development processes of organizational fields. In addition, some external trigger events from institutionalization theory were added which were “technical discontinuities” and “shocks”
that likely sparks change will be further explaining factors. Furthermore, the commitment-trust theory is utilized to understand activities in cross-organizational projects that build commitment and trust that in turn strengthens the legitimacy of the collaboration. By combining these additional theories with institutional theory, we expect to contribute to the understanding of field formation and development.
An analysis was made, comparing our empirical findings with literature from the theoretical framework. From that it was possible to conclude that the selected organizational field is currently in the first stage of the new institutionalization process and hold a discussion of trigger events and the role the different stakeholder currently inhabits and if there is more to be done from each stakeholder in the future. We are also establishing which actions the stakeholders commonly take when it comes to build commitment and trust in cross organizational projects. Lastly, recommendations and practical/theoretical contributions are provided.
GLOSSARY
FC → Fuel Cell
FCEV→ Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle FCET→ Fuel Cell Electric Truck BEV→ Battery Electric Vehicle BET→ Battery Electric Truck HRS→ Hydrogen Refuelling Station TCO→ Total Cost of Ownership
Chicken and the egg problem → Challenge of initiating implementation of HRS or FCEVs independent of the other.
Umeå May 24, 2021
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, we would like to thank our supervisor from Umeå University, Christopher Nicol, for his wise advice, knowledge and guidance throughout this master’s thesis.
We would also like to thank all respondents that took their time to participate in interviews for our study.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION... 1
1.1 PROBLEM BACKGROUND ... 1
1.2 RESEARCH GAP ... 2
1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS ... 4
1.4 PURPOSE ... 4
1.5 TECHNOLOGICAL OVERVIEW ... 4
2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ... 7
2.1 INSTITUTIONALIZATION AND ORGANIZATIONAL FIELD FORMATION ... 7
2.2 STAKEHOLDER THEORY... 9
2.3 COMMITMENT-TRUST THEORY ... 11
2.4 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK ... 12
3. SCIENTIFIC METHODOLOGY ... 15
3.1 ECO-MODERNIST VS DEEP GREEN ... 15
3.2 ONTOLOGY ... 16
3.3 EPISTEMOLOGY ... 16
3.4 RESEARCH APPROACH ... 17
3.5 RESEARCH DESIGN ... 17
3.6 PRE-UNDERSTANDING ... 18
3.7 LITERATURE SEARCH ... 19
4. PRACTICAL METHOD... 21
4.1 DEFINING THE EMPIRICAL STUDY ... 21
4.2 DATA COLLECTING METHODS ... 24
4.3 USING ONLINE TOOLS TO COLLECT DATA ... 24
4.4 QUALITATIVE DATA COLLECTION ... 24
4.5 QUALITATIVE SAMPLING AND ACCESS ... 25
4.6 INTERVIEW GUIDE ... 26
4.7 CONDUCTING THE INTERVIEWS ... 26
4.8 TRANSCRIPTION AND ANALYSIS ... 27
4.9 RESEARCH ETHICS ... 28
5. EMPIRICAL FINDINGS ... 30
5.1 INTERVIEW 1 - SUSANNE WALLNÉR, MARIESTAD MUNICIPALITY/ ELECTRIVILLAGE ... 31
5.2 INTERVIEW 2 - ANDERS LUNDELL, SANDBACKA SCIENCE PARK/
HYDROGEN SWEDEN ... 33
5.3 INTERVIEW 3 - PÄR FORSLUND, KYL & FRYSEXPRESSEN NORD AB ... 35
5.4 INTERVIEW 4 - MARTIN BYLUND, KYL & FRYSEXPRESSEN NORD AB ... 36
5.5 INTERVIEW 5 - BOH WESTERLUND, OAZER AB. ... 37
5.6 INTERVIEW 6- PAWEL SEREMAK- HYDROGEN SWEDEN ... 39
6. ANALYSIS ... 41
6.1 MAPPING OF FIELD FORMATION ... 41
6.2 STAKEHOLDERS ROLE IN THE ORGANIZATIONAL FIELD ... 42
6.2.1 GOVERNMENT ... 42
6.2.2 SUPPLIERS AND CUSTOMERS IN THE VALUE CHAIN ... 44
6.2.3 INTEREST GROUP ... 45
6.3 COMMITMENT-TRUST ... 46
6.3.1 RESOURCES, OPPORTUNITIES & PERKS ... 46
6.3.2 SHARED VALUES ... 47
6.3.3 COMMUNICATION ... 48
6.3.4 AVOIDING FACETIOUSNESS IN COLLABORATION PARTNERS ... 48
6.4 TECHNICAL DISCONTINUITIES ... 49
6.5 SHOCKS ... 50
7. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ... 52
7.1 CONCLUSIONS ... 52
7.2 PRACTICAL CONTRIBUTIONS ... 54
7.3 THEORETICAL CONTRIBUTIONS ... 54
7.4 SOCIETAL RELEVANCE ... 55
7.5 LIMITATIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCH ... 56
8. TRUTH CRITERIA ... 58
8.1 CREDIBILITY ... 58
8.2 DEPENDABILITY ... 59
8.3 CONFIRMABILITY ... 59
8.4 TRANSFERABILITY ... 59
REFERENCES ... 60
APPENDIX ... 64
INTERVIEW GUIDE ... 64
List of Tables
TABLE 1: The “Eight “Big-Tent” criteria for excellent qualitative research” and how they are achieved……….………22 TABLE 2: Table of interviews……….30
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1. INTRODUCTION
In the first chapter of this master thesis, we will introduce our chosen subject and why we see this as a relevant research topic in the field of Business. In addition, this chapter will also include a problem and theoretical background that will form the basis of our research question and purpose for this thesis.
1.1 PROBLEM BACKGROUND
Fossil fuels have traditionally dominated the global energy mix, resulting in emissions of greenhouse gases affecting our climate negatively (UNCTAD, 2010, p. 1; Saritas et al., 2019, p. 1184). It has been widely recognized that the world must make a transition to renewable sources of energy with low or no carbon emissions in order to secure a sustainable future. There are challenges to enable this transition since society is still heavily dependent on fossil fuels since the industrial revolution in the 19th century. Once the car became a property in the 1920s, the demand for gasoline and diesel increased and they are still the dominating fuel technologies as of today (Statista, 2021). This is partially because they are cheaper and more reliable in terms of legitimacy, transportation and storage, however, renewable sources of energy are becoming increasingly cheaper (Kåberger, 2018, p. 49). One additional challenge is that our society is becoming increasingly electrified, meaning that energy consumption is projected to rise in the following years. To tackle this challenge, there is a need for public-private collaboration with investments for incentivizing the development of standardized infrastructures of renewable energy sources (Tang et al., 2012, p. 692).
According to Naturvårdsverket (2020), the emissions of heavy-duty trucks represented 19,6%
of total CO2 emissions in the transport sector in Sweden by 2019. Moreover, 97,4% of heavy- duty trucks in Sweden are fueled by diesel (Trafikanalys, 2020, p. 4). These numbers indicate that it is of significant importance to make a transition towards renewable sources of fuel.
However, there must also be reliable incentives in the market to make the transition feasible.
According to Sharaf & Orhan hydrogen, given that the electricity needed to produce the hydrogen originates from renewable sources, a strong alternative to traditional combustion engines (2014, p. 821). Granted that renewable energy is used in the production of the hydrogen the only emission will be water, heat and electricity and no greenhouse gases. Also, the energy needed for producing non-carbon free hydrogen is greater than the energy needed for clean hydrogen making clean hydrogen the most economically feasible option for hydrogen mobility (Sharaf & Orhan, 2014, p. 821). Moreover, FCEV does have about twice as high efficiency than traditional vehicles without sacrificing propulsion with combustion engines while also being silent and requiring less maintenance which also strengthens the claim that hydrogen is a viable alternative to fossil fuels (Sharaf & Orhan, 2014, p. 822). Projects in Germany, Scandinavia, East Asia, and western US shows that there is likely to be substantial adaptation of FCEVs and nations are expected to undertake political actions to facilitate the transition to FCEVs (Sariatas et al. 2019, p. 1186).
Although the interest in FCEV has increased since the 1990´s we have yet to see a wider adoption of the technology. The expensiveness of the FC-technology which leads to a higher
2 Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) for the haulage firms (Sharaf & Orhan, 2014, p. 823). It is also expensive to produce, store and guarantee safety of green hydrogen, while still less expensive than hydrogen from fossil fuels, further builds on the challenges. More research is needed in this area according to (Sharaf & Orhan, 2014, p. 823).
Another challenge according to (Saritas et al. 2019, p. 1185) for a wide implementation of FCEVs is the lack of a wide net of hydrogen refuelling stations (HRS), the refuelling infrastructure must be in place so that transportation companies can refuel the trucks along their driving routes. This is commonly referred to as a “chicken and the egg” problem since HRS and FCEVs are dependent on each other before either can be fully implemented. Initially, high capital costs and low revenue streams are predicted for the HRS due to a low number of customers and HRS locations. However, when the demand reaches sufficient levels, the revenues will grow for HRSs and more will be constructed according to the demand from the market, thus lowering the fuel price (Saritas et al. 2019, p. 1185). Because we have a high initial cost for Fuel Cell Electric Trucks (FCET) and the infrastructure surrounding hydrogen mobility it may be off putting for many companies to take the risk of being the first mover in this industry. As of Mars 2021 Sweden has four HRSs, this can be compared to our closest neighbours, Denmark has six HRS (H2 live, 2021). If we take a look at Germany, we see that 92 stations are open as of today and more are in the planning phases, and the Netherlands has 10 stations and 5 more in progress (H2 live, 2021). It is noted that countries in the proximity of Sweden geographically, politically (EU member states) and similar GDP per capita (World Bank Group, 2021), seem to have come further in the implementation of HRSs which is interesting to further delve into.
Combining the opportunities, the technology entails, the challenges of high TCO and an underdeveloped HRS net with the positioning Sweden have in the hydrogen mobility sector we get a good picture of the prerequisites for HRS and FCET in Sweden.
In this study we intend to investigate the organizational field of green hydrogen refuelling stations with hydrogen produced via electrolysis, for heavy duty truck transportation in Sweden. We will look at how different stakeholders from the organizational field, including:
key suppliers, key customers, regulatory agencies, and non-profit organizations can stimulate the implementation of green hydrogen refuelling stations with hydrogen produced via electrolysis, for heavy duty truck transportation. The focus will be on the institutionalization process of the organizational field and how to build and exchange trust to overcome the so- called “chicken and the egg” problem with regards to HRSs and FCETs. The decision to focus on the need to extend the HRS grid to enable a transition to FCET is because the subject overlaps other challenges related to HRS implementation
1.2 RESEARCH GAP
For the past decade, topics about sustainability and renewable energy have received more attention as the challenge of solving climate change is an ongoing global megatrend (Barkemeyer et al., 2018; Mittelstaedt et al., 2014). Moreover, there have been many previous studies about hydrogen fuel cells in transportation that have primarily focused on the TCO of FCETs (Le Duigou & Smatti, 2014; Karlström et al., 2019). Their research is more of a practical character since it many times seeks to provide forecasts based on the competitiveness of hydrogen mobility. We argue that the research field of hydrogen mobility needs to be
3 combined with classical theories of institutionalism to understand the formation of its organizational field.
To address this issue, institutional theory will be used to understand the development of an organizational field. Although institutional theory is well developed, it has yet to be further developed because much of organizational research is quantitative and is thus better suited for counting the outcomes of institutional processes. However, the disadvantage of doing quantitative organizational research is that interesting ideas can be overlooked through the institutional process (Suddaby, 2010, p. 16). This potentially suggests that there is a need to make qualitative research since it can complement quantitative research by interpreting the profound events of the institutional process (Suddaby, 2010, p. 16). Theoretically, this thesis can contribute with new perspectives of how stakeholder and commitment-trust theory can be analyzed in the formation of an organizational field. By combining these theories with institutional theory, this thesis may potentially find new concepts of how organizational fields are formed and developed.
Other studies in hydrogen mobility have looked beyond the TCO and competitiveness. Larsson et al. (2015) made a study where they analysed the consequences and feasibility of integrating hydrogen fuel cells in the Swedish transport sector. The study concluded that FCEVs have great potential for complementing the fuel mix in transportation due to effective use of energy sources (Larsson et al., 2015, p. 11728). To provide a broader perspective in the transition towards hydrogen mobility, Saritas et al. (2019) discussed the interests of stakeholders and included key-drivers of change for FCEVs. The study resulted in the presentation of a strategic roadmap on how to create a market for FCEV (Saritas et al., 2019, p. 1199). Gis & Gis (2021) made a paper about national implementation plans for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and about its future development in Poland. They acknowledged the necessity of a transition to hydrogen fuel cells in transportation and argued that it can play a significant role for future renewable powered vehicles (Gis & Gis, 2021, p. 571). The study concluded in suggesting that national implementation plans of FCEVs require a wide infrastructure of HRS for refuelling the vehicles and that hydrogen produced by electrolysis can ensure significant reductions of CO2 emissions in the transport sector (Gis & Gis, 2021, p. 581).
These previous studies are important for our arguments of why the implementation of FCETs is viable and important to further research due to ongoing concerns about future reduction of CO2 emissions by heavy-duty trucks. However, previous research has not been exclusive to hydrogen FCET, many of them are focusing on different types of FCEVs, which opens up for more narrow research about FCETs. By looking through the lens of institutional theory, this thesis can provide an understanding of how the organizational field of hydrogen mobility is developed in Sweden. The organizational field consists of a group of key stakeholders that are keen to participate in the development of hydrogen mobility in Sweden. This thesis will undertake an in-depth case study to study the institutional development and formation of the organizational field. An analysis will be made from the different stakeholders’ perspectives to further understand the different triggers for change. Since the energy infrastructure of different countries can vary, we deem it necessary to investigate and study the implementation from a Swedish market perspective.
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1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
RQ1: How do stakeholders affect formation and development of an organizational field?
RQ2: What role does commitment and trust have in the development of an organizational field?
1.4 PURPOSE
The purpose of this master’s thesis is to, with the help of interviews with people in the Swedish green HRS sector for heavy duty trucks, describe the field formation process from new institutionalism in that specific organizational field. Using the stakeholder theory and the neo- institutionalization idea of triggers of change we will investigate how suppliers, customers, government, and interest groups currently inhabit the organizational field and how it may influence and drive progress in field formation. In addition, we intend to utilize the commitment trust theory in order to map collaboration between stakeholders and give practical recommendations for cross organizational collaboration. This thesis intends to build more understanding of organizational field formation in the hydrogen mobility sector and map collaboration efforts that can assist the transition to the implementation of more HRSs in Sweden.
A qualitative study will be performed since we seek to develop a theoretical framework of field formation that needs to be considered when institutionalizing the organizational field towards hydrogen fuel cells for heavy-duty trucks in Sweden. In addition to the collected qualitative data, the theoretical framework will consist of existing theories from business research and important aspects that have been identified in the research about renewable hydrogen implementation. Our expectation is that the analysis of the theoretical framework and empirical findings can contribute scientifically to current research about national implementations of green HRSs for heavy duty truck transportation. In addition, we expect that this study can provide practical recommendations regarding which external aspects need to be considered for the transition to renewable hydrogen fuel cells in heavy-duty trucks. However, we are aware that this study will be limited to perspectives from the Swedish market and that it might not be applicable for exterior markets with different infrastructures.
1.5 TECHNOLOGICAL OVERVIEW
Since this is a quite new technology there might be a risk that readers lack necessary understanding of what FCEVs and HRS is and how the technology works. Therefore, this subchapter provides the reader with some technical background in an attempt to simplify the process of grasping the industry and the technology in it.
Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe and is commonly found on earth as water and biological compounds (NE, 2021). Hydrogen can be used as an energy carrier and be implemented and replace fossil fuels in most technologies where fossil fuels are used today but with zero emission of toxic and greenhouse gases (Barbir, 2005, p. 661). To produce green
5 hydrogen gas that will work as an energy carrier, a process of Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) electrolysis can be utilized, which already is a mature technology. Simplified, a water molecule is split into hydrogen and oxygen where the hydrogen is then stored for later use. If production of green hydrogen is to be considered carbon free, renewable sources of electricity such as solar, wind or hydro is needed to power the process (Barbir, 2005, p. 662). The stored hydrogen can then via a reversed process in a Fuel Cell (FC) produce electricity in the Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV). Clean water and heat are emitted as the sole by-product (Barbir, 2005, p. 662). As mentioned, this technology can be applied to most technologies that can be powered by fossil fuels today and vehicles are no exception. A FCEV uses this technology to power an electric motor but instead of a battery the energy is stored in pressurized gas form in a hydrogen fuel tank and converted to electricity in the Fuel Cell stack that later powers the electric motor (AFDC, 2021).
Green hydrogen can contribute to net zero-emission in the transportation sector via the electrification of most vehicles (Sharaf & Orhan, 2014, p. 828). However, there are more than one option when it comes to electrification of vehicles and different solutions are suitable for different applications. For the heavy-duty trucks research points towards FCETs being a more feasible solution than BETs. According to (Karlström et al., 2019, p. 29)this can be explained by a Less Functioning Factor. The switch to sustainable drive lines in certain vehicles may impact the effectiveness of the vehicle, for a commercial vehicle such as a truck it is important that as much cargo as possible can be transported simultaneously, that refuelling times are kept short as well as a long range per charge or tank. Both Fuel Cell Electric Trucks (FCET) and Battery Electric Trucks (BET) are heavier than a traditional diesel truck and are thus not able to transport as much cargo. Depending on the range the vehicles are designed to transport more cargo is lost the longer the range is, per range unit (km) the BET is losing more cargo capacity than a FCET due to the higher weight and volume of the driveline The lost cargo capacity will result in a revenue loss that is greater for a BET than for a FCET, although this is really only a factor in transportations where the cargo weight is maximized (Karlström et al., 2019 p. 27- 28). Furthermore, in the truck segment it is discussed that the battery capacity is more limited than a Fuel Cell when it comes to range which gives FCET an edge over BET and the longer charging times for BETs can potentially increase the risks of delays in the supply chain. Both BET and FCET have an edge over traditional diesel trucks if regulations that limit the accessibility in low-emission zones (e.g. city centers) are further developed (Karlström et al., 2019 p. 35). Putting these factors together provides a case for implementation of the Fuel Cell technology to be implemented in the long-haul heavy-duty truck sector where these factors are crucial.
When talking about the hydrogen infrastructure the focus is on three somewhat overlapping aspects. The dispensary or HRS, the production site of the hydrogen and the transportation of the hydrogen between the two. A clear distinction of different types of HRSs is whether or not the HRS produces the hydrogen on-site or off-site (Dagdougui et al., 2018, p. 82). The difference between the two is that the production of hydrogen happen in direct connection to the HRS at an On-site HRS and that the production takes place at centralized location at a Off- site HRS, otherwise the there is no difference (Dagdougui et al., 2018, p. 82). Considering that the On-site HRS are independent of deliveries of hydrogen it does not require any delivering system, only electricity, preferably from renewable sources, to produce hydrogen (Dagdougui et al., 2018, p. 11). The benefit with Off-site HRS is that the scale of the production of hydrogen can be ramped up since the cost of hydrogen is closely related to the scale of production the most advantageous solution cost wise may be to produce centrally. However, to get the most out of Off-site HRS one needs to have them close to the production site for lower logistical
6 costs (Dagdougui et al., 2018, p. 11). The conclusions that can be drawn is that Off-site production is more suitable to employ closer to larger production sites while more remote locations may benefit more from On-site production. Different challenges may occur for stakeholders in the organizational field depending on which mode of HRS is chosen. This is an interesting question to ask the respondents.
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2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
In this chapter we will provide the reader which theories we intend to use when explaining our conceptual framework and how they will be utilized.
2.1 INSTITUTIONALIZATION AND ORGANIZATIONAL FIELD FORMATION
There are three schools of thought when talking about institutional theory. Old Institutionalism, according to Broom & Selznick (1955 p. 283) is “the emergence of orderly, stable, socially integrating patterns out of unstable, loosely organized or narrowly technical activities''. Here, changes within an organization are during the process of institutionalization. However, we are not focusing on the organizational level but rather on the field as a whole. Which brings us to the second school of thought, new institutionalism. New institutionalism is a way to bring understanding about how organizations became institutionalized and the process behind it (DiMaggio & Powell, 1983). From this school of thought, the concept of organizational field was developed, which can be defined as: “those organizations that, in aggregate, constitute a recognized area of institutional life: key suppliers, resource and product consumers, regulatory agencies, and other organizations that produce similar services or products” (DiMaggio &
Powell, 1983, p. 148). With that said, the perspective of this thesis will be on a field level, rather than on an organizational level.
There are four stages in the formation of an Organizational Field according to DiMaggio &
Powell (1983, p. 148):
- First there is a stage of increased interaction between actors in the field which intend to set the boundaries for the organizational field gestalted by communication, cooperation and or competition.
- Secondly, hierarchies are starting to be formed and dominating organizations are taking control of the agenda.
- Thirdly, imitation of the strongest organizations will take place due to an overload of information that creates insurmountable levels of information among some of the organizations.
- The final stage is when the organizations have realized that they are involved in the same enterprise.
This field formation is not a static mechanism, often new forms of debate arise in the aftermath of triggering events that reorganize the membership or interaction patterns of the organizational field (DiMaggio & Powell, 1983).
With that in mind there is a more recent school of thought called neoinstitutionalism which takes a deeper dive into how organizations and individuals in organizational fields can influence change (Beckert, 1999).
8 Because this study seeks to understand the development of hydrogen FCEVs and the development of Swedish HRS infrastructure, we must investigate how these changes occur in an organizational field. When looking at the organizational field of heavy-duty trucks and transportation today the most common fuel is diesel, and which makes it heavily dependent on petroleum. In this case, as society is striving towards zero emissions, incentives with no emissions are encouraged. Technology is also developing, meaning that there are opportunities to disrupt the transportation sector that is currently dominated by diesel. Previous research suggests that the development or change of organizational fields are affected by certain triggers.
One of these triggers that can be connected to this case is the one about “Technical Discontinuities” which Lorange, et al. (1986) described as new radical superior technologies replacing older inferior technologies, allowing changes and improvements within organizations and fields. However, as mentioned in the problem background, FCETs are not currently superior to diesel fuelled trucks in terms of TCO. Instead, we argue that FCETs have the potential of becoming superior as the infrastructure of HRS increases and can lower the cost, based on the forecasts of Karlström, et al. (2019, p. 31). It is already a superior technology in terms of it being free from carbon emissions, however, incentives must be accelerated for the infrastructure to become viable.
Fligstein (1991) presented another trigger, “shocks' ' as a result after examining the structural transformation of the American industry over a period of 60 years. It was found that shocks are generated by the state or the organizational field because of either a revision of existing rules or patterns of organizational strategies that weaken those rules (Fligstein, 1991). This suggests that individuals or the state can influence changes within organizational fields by proclaiming any problems or issues within the field that need to change by identifying solutions. The main conclusion from Fligstein (1991) is that the underlying idea of the shock trigger is that it only occurs in the case of major events that disrupts the business environment, such as legislation or a completely new organizational strategy that can come from both internal and external instances. Fligstein & McAdam (2011, p. 9) suggest that one key mechanism of shocks in an organizational field is the one of collective construction. Collective construction typically starts with one collective actor perceiving and defining a change within the field or the external environment. This change can be a new opportunity or a significant threat, and that itself will trigger a change for the organizational field. An example of this could potentially be the external threat of climate change, meaning that actors within the organizational field can find new opportunities to partially solve the crisis. Another example could be a threat within the organizational field, for example fossil fuels becoming less competitive. The collective actors within the organizational field would then need to find new opportunities to substitute the fossil fuels with new sources of energy. In the context of this thesis, one can argue that different stakeholders can trigger a change through “shocks” in the organizational field of heavy-duty trucks by manifesting the need of transitioning from diesel fuelled trucks towards FCETs.
We are using organizational field theory as a method of understanding our scope of stakeholders in the green hydrogen refuelling stations with hydrogen produced via electrolysis, for heavy duty truck transportation in Sweden. So far, the organizational field chosen to investigate in this master thesis is quite young. There is no clear leader in the field yet considering the low rate of penetration of HRSs in Sweden that can refuel heavy duty trucks.
Also, it is unknown how far the interaction between actors has come so far. Therefore, by identifying different stakeholders, this thesis can create a better understanding for the development of an organizational field. However, there is some evidence online for instance, showing initial steps towards communication and collaboration looking at a recorded
9 conference on fossil free transportation in Sweden's northern regions (Länsstyrelsen Västerbotten, 2021).
Considering these factors, it might indicate that the HRSs organizational field is either a “pre- organizational field” or has just entered the first stage. What then becomes interesting is mapping the stakeholders that likely will become key players in the organizational field and how certain “triggers” can affect the formation process of an organizational field and institutionalize it via collaboration.
With our take on institutionalization, we will investigate how different stakeholders can influence change and bring about institutionalization within an organizational field.
Considering that Selznik (1957, p. 16) stated “no organization of any duration is completely free of institutionalization” we must consider aspects of collaboration. An integral part in collaboration is commitment and trust which will be further elaborated in the next chapter.
2.2 STAKEHOLDER THEORY
An organizational field consists of different stakeholders it is necessary to understand more about the stakeholder theory, especially regarding motivations behind participating in projects.
The assumption of stakeholder theory is that values are fundamental for doing business.
Freeman et al. (2004, p. 364) suggest that businesses must claim a purpose to articulate the value proposition for their stakeholders which creates a foundation of responsibilities for the relationship towards the stakeholders. When mapping out stakeholders, one typically divides different groups into internal and external stakeholders. Since this thesis will focus on the implementation of a broader infrastructure in Sweden, we will not consider a company perspective, but rather a nation-wide perspective of the organizational field which makes the consideration of external stakeholders more relevant. External stakeholders usually include society, government, customers, suppliers, shareholders, etc.
Research has proven that engaging external stakeholders can positively orientate sustainable innovations (Ayuso et al., 2011, p. 1409). This can indicate that the development of HRS infrastructure for FCETs should consider the engagement of external stakeholders in order to increase the possibilities for a successful innovation process. The reason why one can argue that stakeholder engagement can positively affect sustainable innovations is because the consideration of stakeholder interest provides a more accurate perspective of entrepreneurial risk (Freeman et al., 2004, p. 369). Additionally, stakeholder involvement requires that their interest must overlap with the hosts strategy and be considered as valuable for themselves to make the collaboration viable (Soundararajan et al., 2019, p. 391). This explains that all participants in a supply chain must collaborate and orientate themselves collectively towards a goal that promotes value for everyone involved (Soundararajan et al., 2019, p. 391). When putting this into the context of institutionalizing HRSs for FCETs, we can say that there is a need for all involved participants and stakeholders to orientate themselves collectively towards a shared goal to generate mutual value.
When considering an innovation that requires a wider construction of infrastructure in society, the state or government can make significant impacts on the strategic direction of the project through financing (Trott, 2017, p. 54). According to Trott (2017, p. 54), the state can indirectly help funding innovations through tax exemptions, subsidies, loan guarantees, etc. State action can be necessary when there are market uncertainties that hinder the innovation process (Trott,
10 2017, p. 53), for example when risk aversion is high. The state also has a key role when there are needs for establishing complementary infrastructures that can assist innovations through creating a friendly environment (Trott, 2017, p. 53). This could for example be the provision of electricity, water, and communication systems.
Multi-stakeholder initiatives must establish trust to ensure that the participants are not working alone when engaging in a process (Soundararajan et al., 2019, p. 391). One should acknowledge that different stakeholders have different needs and expectations for any involved activity.
According to Mayer et al. (1995, p. 715), there are three factors of trustworthiness that enable trust to be built: ability, benevolence, and integrity. In the context of stakeholder involvement, ability refers to the group of skills, competencies and characteristics that enables the agent’s capacity to perform the required task (Mayer et al., 1995, p. 717). Benevolence can be interpreted as the extent the parties want to do good to each other, aside from an egoistic profit motive (Mayer et al., 1995, p. 718; Greenwood & Van Buren, 2010, p. 428). Lastly, integrity involves the involved parties' perception to adhere to different sets of principles and values that the collaboration partner finds acceptable (Mayer et al., 1995, p. 719).
Summarizing the stakeholder theory, one can understand that any incentive must have a clear purpose to provide shared value for any involved participant. In addition, trust needs to be built in the relationships to orientate the collaboration with heavily involved stakeholders. Therefore, in the context of this study, it is reasonable to argue that different stakeholders must find shared value in the purpose of institutionalizing an infrastructure of HRSs in Sweden. Also, trustworthy relationships are crucial to solve the “chicken and the egg” problem of HRSs and FCETs. An initiative like this requires that a customer demand must be identified and that key suppliers must work cooperatively with public agencies to establish a functioning supply chain infrastructure of HRSs for FCETs since they are dependent on one another.
Figure 1. Stakeholders in the organizational field.
The figure illustrates examples of stakeholders that we deem as key-enablers in the organizational field for HRS initiatives in Sweden. Customers and suppliers are key enablers
11 since we need a supply and demand for the “chicken and the egg” problem. Meaning that there must be customers with a demand for hydrogen fuel cell trucks together with suppliers that can manufacture FCETs and distribute fuel for HRSs. The government is likely to get involved when institutionalizing the organizational field since HRSs require a standardized infrastructure. The Swedish government can also be a key-enabler since they can create incentives for a transition towards green hydrogen fuel cells through subsidies and investments.
It is also likely that interest groups such as the Swedish Transport Administration (Swedish:
Trafikverket), the trade association for haulage (Sveriges åkeriföretag), and the non-profit association for hydrogen in Sweden (Vätgas Sverige) will be key-enablers for a transition towards a nationwide infrastructure of HRSs. Other stakeholders can certainly be key-enablers and facilitators for a nationwide transition towards green hydrogen fuel cells in Sweden.
However, we limit this study to the above-mentioned stakeholders to narrow down due to time constraints but also since we find these stakeholders to be of most strategic importance. In addition, an investor or an employee for instance can be a part of the already chosen stakeholder.
2.3 COMMITMENT-TRUST THEORY
Commitment-trust theory stems from marketing research and aims to explain the benefits of building long lasting relationships. Higher levels of commitment and trust in business relationships tends to lead to an increased focus on maintaining relationship-building investments by cooperation with exchange partners, a deeper commitment in preserving long lasting relationships instead of short-term relationships and being more tolerant to high-risk actions by partners since there is trust that the partner acts prudent not opportunistic (Morgan
& Hunt, 1994, p. 22). The definition of Relationship Commitment used by Morgan & Hunt is
“...the commitment party believes that the relationship is worth working on to ensure that it endures indefinitely”. In the same article the chosen definition of trust is “...as a willingness to rely on an exchange partner in whom one has confidence” (1994, p. 23). The study found four activities that would increase commitment and trust that in turn would lead to companies and networks gaining sustainable competitive advantages. These four activities are;
(1) Offering greater resources, opportunities, and perks than competitors.
(2) Maintain organizational values at a high standard and partner up with likeminded exchange partners.
(3) Share vital information such as expectations, market data, performance reviews via efficient communication.
(4) Avoiding knowingly maliciously taking advantage of exchange partners.
The theory has successfully been applied to different industries Friman et al. (2000) tested the model on service entrepreneurs in Sweden, Australia and the UK and found that business to business relationships benefit from commitment and trust. Likewise, Wu et al. (2012) investigated the commitment and trust in supply-chain partnerships in Taiwan and found that commitment and trust can lead to positive effects.
If we relate the Commitment-trust theory with this study, we will find that it is an integral part in the collaboration between different stakeholders. In some way or another, stakeholders
12 within an organizational field strive for the same goals. In the subchapter the different stakeholders for the investigated organizational field are listed. The stakeholders chosen for this study are Suppliers, Customers, Government, and Interest Groups. To exemplify, making the best offerings is quite obvious. For instance, a supplier that provides HRS that lasts longer and has better service conditions is likely more trusted than a supplier that performs worse.
Shared values between parties in an organizational field makes it easier for organizations to work together. For instance, imagine a nonprofit organization that grants money to companies that are willing to make serious sustainable investments, in order for the nonprofit to be sure that the recipient strives for the same goal, one idea is to investigate their values. Later on, when the organizational field is established, collaboration is benefitted by sharing knowledge, however, if one party receives information but never shares, are they trustworthy? This could be a sign of the last activity that enables trust and commitment, purposely taking advantage in a harmful way which always must be avoided since it will destroy all trust and commitment and make collaboration impossible.
2.4 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
In this chapter we discussed theories and concepts that are of relevance for this study. In this subchapter we are taking a look at the theories chosen and tying them together in order to highlight how they relate to and build upon each other. Also, a presentation of how these theories will assist what is searched to be accomplished with this thesis study will be done. We will end up with a conceptual framework illustrating different aspects that we deem to be interesting to further explore in interviews with knowledgeable people in the hydrogen mobility sector.
The organizational field is selected to narrow down the area we intend to investigate, as stated in subchapter 2.1 we focus on green hydrogen refuelling stations with hydrogen produced via electrolysis, for heavy duty truck transportation in Sweden. There are several challenges associated with the transition to hydrogen mobility in the heavy-duty truck sector. Focusing on a challenge that is both fundamental and overlapping with most other challenges covers several aspects without complicating the study to a great extent. The chicken and the egg problem with HRSs and FCETs are such a fundamental challenge for the transition to sustainable transportation. TCO and collaborative challenges are reasons as to why it is hard to implement a net of HRS with a matching amount of FCET. That is the reason we chose this problematization in this organizational field.
The conceptual framework intends to illustrate how the organizational field can be institutionalized, mening how the different actors can collaborate to make a more coherent and effective transition effort. To better understand how such a transition can happen, we identified two triggers of change: Technical Discontinuities and Shocks. The first being about superior technologies replacing older inferior technologies and the second being about how individuals and the state can offer different constructions and solutions.
Further, since this study focuses on the switch from a well-established fuel (diesel) with a developed infrastructure to an almost completely new fuel infrastructure (hydrogen) several stakeholders must be involved in the transition. We use the stakeholder theory to identify the most important stakeholders in this organizational field and discuss how they can contribute and collaborate in order to efficiently build an HRS infrastructure that will allow a wide adoption of FCET in other words how the stakeholders can institutionalize the organizational
13 field. In relation to the two identified triggers of Technical discontinuities and Shocks we intend to answer how stakeholders in the organizational field can collaborate in order to accomplish this immense task. Therefore, we need collaboration theories.
The commitment-trust theory is added to get a hold on which activities are the most important when commitment and trust is built which in our opinion are two crucial success factors in any inter organizational endeavour. We identify the factors in the commitment-trust theory that are most relevant for the chosen stakeholders. The success factors that was identified was:
(1) Offering greater resources, opportunities, and perks than competitors,
(2) Maintain organizational values at a high standard and partner up with likeminded exchange partners,
(3) Share vital information such as expectations, market data, performance reviews via efficient communication, and lastly,
(4) Avoid knowingly and maliciously taking advantage of exchange partners.
Combining these theories and applying them on the organizational field of green hydrogen refuelling stations with hydrogen produced via electrolysis, for heavy duty truck transportation in Sweden. We can start understanding the institutional process and investigate how collaboration endeavours have looked so far and more interestingly what can be done better in the future. Based on data gathered from stakeholders with useful insight in the organizational field. Below, the institutionalization process in this particular case is illustrated.
14 Figure 2. Conceptual Framework
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3. SCIENTIFIC METHODOLOGY
This chapter contains our philosophical stances that are relevant for this study. Firstly, there will be a discussion about how we perceive ecological sustainability and why such positioning is of importance. Secondly, we will take our own standpoints regarding the nature of knowledge and the nature of social entities. In addition, this chapter will also contain a description of how this study is approached and designed. It ends with a discussion of how literature is searched for the study and why we chose certain theories.
3.1 ECO-MODERNIST VS DEEP GREEN
Eco-modernism is described in “An Ecomodernist Manifesto” as an environmental philosophy where mankind uses our accumulated social, economic, and technological powers for the betterment of mankind's wellbeing as well as stabilize the climate and increased protection of the natural world (Asafu-Adjaye et al., 2015 p. 6). What the authors of the manifesto argues for is innovative technological solutions towards challenges connected to human development and sustainability. Urbanization, aquaculture, agricultural intensification, nuclear power and desalination are examples given of innovations that will maintain living standards while leaving for more non-human species (Asafu-Adjaye et al., 2015 p. 18). We find hydrogen mobility to be such a solution. Although, land area with impact on nature is required for green electricity, large wind parks or hydro power plants for instance. Comparing that with oil extracting or forest use for biofuels it is at least not as harmful taking into consideration the environmental impact increased CO2 levels will have on earth (Asafu-Adjaye et al., 2015 p.
23). Another main point by Asafu-Adjaye et al. (2015, p. 23-24) is a transition to zero-carbon energy sources, although the manifest criticizes the alternative green sources of energy as insufficient in today's technological state, future solar, and different nuclear options are deemed the most likely to replace fossil fuels in the long term. This transition will take time and during that time the not as viable green solutions must be in place during the transition period. This also speaks in favour of hydrogen mobility since it can be used with any energy source and mitigate the gap between supply and demand being an energy carrier with zero carbon emissions.
The opposing environmental philosophy, Deep Ecology, takes more drastic measures and is often criticized for being almost religious in its stance towards environmental matters (Madsen, 2016). To exemplify this, points from the eight points of the platform for deep Ecology can be used. There among is demands of mandatory participation in participating in implementing necessary changes for subscribers, a decreased human population, and policies changes (Madsen, 2016).
The reason why our philosophical standpoint regarding sustainability should be clarified is because it affects the interpretation of our empirical findings. We argue that sustainability issues should be solved with a rational mind. As we are promoting technical progress and not retrocess, our philosophical ideology is more inclined with the one of eco-modernism. In other words, one should not stop driving cars to address sustainability issues. Instead, we encourage an engineer-driven development of technology, meaning that we should not stop driving cars, but rather improve their green technical advancement.
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3.2 ONTOLOGY
Ontology is the nature of reality and what philosophical assumptions one makes about the existence of the world, society, and people (Bell et al., 2018, p. 26). For this thesis to be interpreted correctly, we need to be transparent with how we perceive the nature of reality. The basic perspective for this thesis is that reality is subjective, meaning that individuals perceive the world differently from one another at different times and circumstances (Eriksson &
Kovalainen, 2008, p. 14). We argue that individuals have the possibility to influence our reality through behaviours and actions. This is also aligned with the perspective of constructionism which suggests that social order is continuously changing due to the involvement of humans and their constructs of relationships (Bell, et al., 2018, p. 26; Eriksson & Kovalainen, 2008, p.
13).
Since this thesis is studying a particular organizational field, it is important to note that all organizational fields are socially constructed. They do not exist naturally, since it is created through human relationships, actions, and social hierarchies. As a consequence, this thesis is not based on the perspective of an objectivist which assumes that reality is independently existing and cannot be influenced regardless of whether people are aware of it or not (Bell et al., 2018, p. 26). Objectivism as a philosophical perspective can certainly be correct when conducting studies in natural science. However, this thesis is focusing on the changes in an organizational field, more specifically the transition towards hydrogen mobility for heavy-duty trucks. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume the perspective of social constructionism, since different stakeholders will have different interpretations of how this transition will happen. The different stakeholders do not exist objectively, they are all social constructs and together they will influence the reality of the organizational field.
In order to study the social phenomena of transition towards green hydrogen in the mobility sector for heavy-duty trucks, one needs to adopt the constructionist perspective. This is because the process requires strategic action, meaning that the phenomena is created by the different social actors and stakeholders involved. Due to our ontological standpoint, the epistemological standpoint should similarly follow the subjective nature.
3.3 EPISTEMOLOGY
The theory of knowledge is called epistemology, our epistemological position comes after our ontological positioning, we form our understanding of the gathering of knowledge based on our ontological positioning of reality (Bell et al., 2018, p 29). The question that epistemology intends to answer is “what is knowledge and what are the sources and limitations of knowledge?” (Eriksson & Kovalainen, 2008, p. 14). The terms ontology and epistemology have close ties and are often discussed in pairs in research (Eriksson & Kovalainen, 2008, p.
14). The concepts of objectivism and subjectivism positioning are present in both ontology and epistemology; an objectivist view allows a possibility of a world with external theory and neutrality, whereas a subjectivist view does not allow an external world surrounding observations and has free interpretation of the beholder (Eriksson & Kovalainen, 2008, p. 14).
In business research epistemology plays an important role since it facilitates the understanding of business-related phenomena (Bell et al., 2018, p 29). There are different directions of epistemology that can be applied to business research.
17 For this thesis study we have chosen to take an interpretivist direction. Interpretivism implies that knowledge is achieved through social actors, and this is due to the main understanding of this direction is that reality is socially constructed and subjective (Eriksson & Kovalainen, 2008, p. 15). The interpretivist research approach does not depend on predetermined variables, the focus instead lies on complex social actions in different situations (Eriksson & Kovalainen, 2008, p. 20). An interpretivist direction is most commonly used in qualitative studies since it pays attention to the relation between researcher and research field and has interactions and understandings as central principles of research (Eriksson & Kovalainen, 2008, p. 20). This thesis study will be of a qualitative nature since we base our data collection on interviews with different actors in the hydrogen mobility sector. The different actors, or stakeholder, are organizations that in itself are social constructs affected by an internal and external reality. The information gathered from the interviews will be dependent on the interpretation of the respondents' experiences. Also, will our interpretation of the answers be interpreted by us which will be influenced by our previous experiences. We aim to suggest a process or method of implementing green HRS stations for heavy duty trucks in Sweden which is based on the opinions of the respondents and the results may be interpreted differently by different beholders. Since we are not conducting a quantitative study but rather depend on subjective views from respondents in a highly complex problematization we cannot rely on positivism in this study.
3.4 RESEARCH APPROACH
In business research there are two dominating models of creating scientific knowledge, deduction and induction. However, there are hybrids between the two called abduction (Bell et al., 2018, p. 23; Eriksson & Kovalainen, 2008, p. 22; Saunders et al., 2009, p. 127).. This thesis study will take an inductive approach. Inductive research approach intends to build theory, an inductive approach argues that theory is a result of empirical research is building upon the discovery of a relationship between variables and aims to build theoretical results (Eriksson &
Kovalainen, 2008, p. 22; Saunders et al., 2009, p. 126). The reasoning as to why an occurrence happens over understanding of how something happens is what inductive research is about (Saunders et al., 2009, p. 126). In a deductive study, hypotheses will be tested in order to explain relationships between variables and testing the theory (Saunders et al., 2009, p. 126- 127). Generally, inductive approaches most suitable for qualitative studies and deductive approaches are more suitable for quantitative studies y (Bell et al., 2018, p. 23; Eriksson &
Kovalainen, 2008, p. 22; Saunders et al., 2009, p. 127). Considering that we intend to gather insights from respondents and from that building a framework of implementation of green HRS stations for heavy duty trucks in Sweden we are building theory of how that best can be achieved. We are not trying to prove relationships between variables using a quantitative method. Thus, is an inductive approach most suitable for our thesis.
3.5 RESEARCH DESIGN
According to Collis & Hussey (2014, p. 59), the design of the research is based on the choices of methodology which addresses the purpose of the study and the research question. Most commonly within business research is to collect either qualitative or quantitative data (Saunders et al., 2009, p. 480). The characteristics of these methods of collecting data differ in the sense that qualitative data is more subjective whereas quantitative data is numerical.
Important to note is that they are used for different purposes, depending on the aim of the study.
